A blog about science, technology, space and cosmology, amongst other things. Written by Stuart Penman

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Most plants are green. Green stalks and green leaves. Sure, flower petals are the obvious exception here, but the reason for that is primarily due to attracting bees or other insects which can be used to pollinate plants. The point of this post though, is to explain why it is that plants are predominantly green.

Recently I found the need to run an old computer PSU as a bench power supply, with no connection to a motherboard. Normally this is not possible, as there is protection within the PSU to ensure that it cannot fire up unless the motherboard connection is present. Luckily, this is very easy to bypass… Read more »

Plastic. It’s everywhere. Cheap to produce and lightweight to transport. It’s no wonder manufacturers have taken to it so well. It is, however, a horrible product, and one that will linger on our streets, trees, hedgerows and landfill sites for many years to come. Read more »

This blog has, up until now, primarily been driven towards areas of scientific and technological interest. This forced me into a corner in a way. When I write about science it needs to be accurate and descriptive, informative and interesting. This is something that I can find hard to achieve and it takes up a lot of time. As such, I lost interest in writing on this blog sometime last year.

From this point forward the posts to this site may become a fair bit shorter and snappier and I anticipate they will cover a wider range of topics. I also hope to post content more frequently. I don’t think any humans actually read this site anyway, so I guess I can do what the hell I like…no-one is going to notice!

We tend to think of plants getting their nutrients from the soil, using their roots to gather all of the necessary elements from the ground. Not all plants do this, though. Some eat flesh!

Carnivorous plants are plants that use nutrients derived from insects or animals in place of, or in addition to, typical soil-based nutrients. They are mostly found growing in areas where the soil nutrients are very low, and so nutrients must be taken from a source other than the soil.

Sound is an amazing force, and one that is often overlooked in terms of its powerful influence and destructive potential. The lucky ones among us get to hear sound every day, and what a privilege it is. There are times, however, when hearing may be a detriment to us. This is increasingly becoming the case with the development and application of sonic weapons by various military forces. Sound as a weapon is not a particularly new idea, but for years there has been much secrecy and misinformation shrouding the subject. Read more »

“Midgley’s name is inseparably associated with four outstanding advances. The first was the discovery of the chemical antiknock agents. Tetra-ethyl lead, the principal one of these, has added immensely to the performance and efficiency of gasoline engines both in the air and on the ground. The second advance, which was necessary to the practical success of the first, was the extraction of bromine from sea water. The third was the utilization of fluorine to produce an altogether new series of refrigerating compounds, the only such compounds known which are stable, non-flammable, and completely non-toxic, and which are therefore indispensable in air-conditioning. The fourth advance was in the field of rubber, in which he extended the knowledge of the chemistry of vulcanization and of the fundamental composition of natural and synthetic rubbers.” – Biographical Memoir of Thomas Midgley Jr. 1889 – 1944 By Charles F. Kettering

He certainly sounds like quite the scientist, doesn’t he? No-one can deny that he was indeed gifted in the field of chemistry, despite the fact that he had never received and formal training as a scientist. His training was in Engineering, though after gaining an interest in the industrial applications of chemistry he ceased to continue his engineering work. Although his work was pioneering in some respects, it left a deadly trail behind him. Read more »

The Moon. What a wonderful thing it is. We, as humans, have developed somewhat of a bond to our Moon, and this is understandable. After all, it has a profound effect on life on Earth, most of this is positive, although there are suspicions that there are some effects of the Moon which have lead to less-than favourable outcomes, as we will explore. Read more »

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (sometimes referred to as Environmental Illness) is a condition that affects many people but is still widely misunderstood. It generally refers to any ailment or illness which is the result of environmental factors, such as pollutants or toxins entering the body of the sufferer through a means such as inhalation or ingestion. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is on the increase, the result of us inhabiting a world full of toxins and poisons that are so commonplace that they are now even found in our cleaning and grooming products, amongst many others. People who suffer from MCS are prone to suffering various multiple symptoms upon the exposure to a number of chemicals. Read more »